Randy Granger has parlayed a lifelong fascination with dominoes into a new Hyundai Veloster.

The 32-year-old Winnipeg video short producer took top prize in the YouTube & Hyundai Present Musical Shorts contest that drew entries from all over the world. Granger picked up the grand prize -- a 2012 Hyundai Veloster three-door coupe -- on Jan. 24 from Winnipeg Hyundai.

(See reviews page E9.)

Posted online last year, the Hyundai contest asked registered YouTube users to submit a one-minute and 20-second video set to an excerpt from the Mason Bates music track Mothership. The visuals just had to be original.

A panel of judges identified 16 finalists based on creativity, originality and how well the video exemplified the music composition. The YouTube community then voted, and Granger's video, Let It Flow Like Domino, garnered the most votes, beating entries from countries such as the U.S., Russia, Australia and Brazil.

Granger, who doesn't drive, decided to enter the contest to help his mother, Jeannette, replace a car that had broken down.

It's not the first time that the Winnipegger's domino-themed videos have attracted international attention -- they've also been highlighted on Ellen Degeneres' and Conan O'Brien's shows. He's been producing his videos for the past four or five years under the "Flippy Cat" label.

"Winnipeg is home to many creative, talented people and Mr. Granger's winning entry is more proof of that," said Guy Bordian, general manager at Winnipeg Hyundai.

"What's most touching, though, is that Mr. Granger was motivated to win the contest so he could help his family. He clearly found the inspiration he needed to achieve his goal."

Winnipeg Hyundai may have a second "winner" in a relatively new member of its sales team. Daryl Brown, 26, is a former Irish race-car champion who moved here in April (with his Winnipeg-born girlfriend) and began working at the west Portage Hyundai dealership in May.

"I've been driving race cars for 13 years," Brown said. "My father is a mechanic."

Before he left Ireland to see the world more than three years ago, Brown regularly finished in the top three among Irish drivers out of a field of 130 to 140. "I drove Ford Fiestas and a lot of single-seaters," he says.

Bronw credits Winnipeg Hyundai sales captain Bill Turnbull with helping him in his sales career. "Bill has given me a lot of helpful advice," Brown said.

Brown is looking forward to settling here -- and at Winnipeg Hyundai -- for the long term and, once he gets his visa issues sorted out, he's planning on trying out the local racing circuit.

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We offer our sympathy to the family of well-known auto dealer Doug McIver, who passed away suddenly on Jan. 26.

The eldest son of long-time Winnipeg Chrysler dealer Jack McIver (who died in 2008), McIver built his own path to success. After a successful career playing CFL football, he went into the auto industry with his father before going off on his own. At one time, he was Toronto's top-selling Chrysler dealer.

He came back to Winnipeg in 2003 to succeed his father as dealer principal at Midway Chrysler. When the business was forced to close in 2007, McIver switched to used cars. His newly renamed Ride Time dealership has two locations, and he was in the process of opening a third at the time of his death.

Cam McIver, dealer principal at Parkside Ford, and Doug McIver's first cousin, recalls that Doug had a voracious thirst for new ways to do things and was always up for trying something new. "He was relentless in his search for new ways to sell cars," Cam McIver recalls.

Cam McIver said his cousin received so many awards as a Chrysler dealer that they covered all his office walls.

"Doug loved selling cars and had fun doing it," he said. "He always greeted you with a corny one-liner .... It was one of his traits that made him so 'Doug'.

"He scored big in the game of life, and we're all going to miss him very much."